Apparatus enabling a golfer to become familiar with an ideal swing path and proficient at performing same has been proposed which comprises a rail or track held in a looped configuration representing an ideal golf club swing path, and a carriage-slidably mounted on the rail for attachment of the shaft of a golf club.
When a golfer fastens his club to the carriage and stands centrally within the area defined by the looped rail and swings the club, the carriage should slide freely along the rail with the club attached thereto following the path set by the position of the rail.
Many variations of this concept have been disclosed in prior patent specifications, such as GB 1174773, GB 1258446, U.S. Pat. No. 2,653,025 U.S. Pat. No. 3,794,329, U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,701 and WO82/01471, as well as the applicant's own prior specification GB 2210798, but such apparatus, if ever commercially available, has never proved successful. This may be accounted for by practical difficulties in two areas, namely the ease and speed of adjustment of the rail or track to suit users of different stature, and the smooth running of the carriage on the rail or track, the latter sometimes also being affected (possibly adversely) upon adjustment of the rail or track. In this respect, since the high cost of such apparatus dictates that it will mainly be used by golf instructors at clubs its rapid ajustability to suit different players under tuition is essential, as is its reliable functioning.